LRB - you said you are in Michigan. I am as well and also looking for mile races. Only one I have run is the Clawson Firecracker Mile on July 4 in 2011. I missed it last year but am hoping to run it again this year. It's a great race and a fast course (West to East so should get a slight tailwind, slight downhill and straight).

What other mile races have you found? I'm on the east side of the state but travel around so could look at a race anywhere.

were quite good for a first effort. A lot of first-timers would have run the first lap much faster, and blown up on the subsequent laps. You had your last lap as your fastest, which is the essence of how the mile should be run. I think my splits in my best mile were like 68-71-72-66, which aren't proportionally much different from yours, so I think you're on the right track.

On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office. But you will wish that you'd spent more time running. Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.